Thank You Letter after a Camping Trip (by William)

July 31, 2017

Dear Peter and family,

Thank you so much for inviting me to your camping trip again this year. I still have many good memories of last year’s trip.

                  

I liked going to the beach because there were big waves crashing on the sand and rocks, making white foam. I was soaked and covered with sand. The view from the ocean summit after a 50-minute hike was majestic. I could see almost everything from the hill. I even spotted our campsite! I also liked standing next to the campfire and making torches with sticks or feeding smaller sticks into the fire. My goal was to light my way but the torch was not bright enough. Lastly, I loved feasting on golden and creamy marshmallows.

Here I go. I’m going to say Twotwo many times. I did not like how Twotwo spat at me in the car. I didn’t like how Twotwo hit me with sand balls. I did not like how she removed a nail from our tent. I didn’t like how she messed around with our lantern when we were playing Ascensions. I didn’t like how she fanned smoke in my direction and how she kicked Hansen’s and my shoes almost out of our campsite and I had to chase her and retrieve our shoes. Wonwon and Twotwo hid Hansen’s shoes. They were like Thing 1 and Thing 2 running around. If I have a sister, I bet she’ll be as irritating as Twotwo.

Again, thank you so much for inviting me to the trip. It was worth it.

Best Regards,

William

P.S. Peter is invited for a sleep over whenever both of us are available.

Camping trip from last year - http://worldthroughchildrenseyes.blogspot.com/2016/08/

Fresh from Farmers Market (by William)

A few weeks ago, mom started searching for a farm that needs helpers.  She found one, but it was too far away.  Even though we failed finding a farm job for me, we ended up making a new friend, the owner of Yao Cheng Farm. 

This all started when we were walking at farmers market on a Sunday morning a while back.  We spotted a banner saying Yao Cheng Farm USDA Certified Organic.  The farm had so many varieties of vegetables.  My mom and dad immediately started chatting with the old gentleman who owned the farm.  While they talked, I helped Mr. Cheng peel a box of emperor beans fresh out of the pod and putting them into bags.  

 

The emperor beans are the most expensive veggie at farmers market

Yao Cheng Farm is home to about 80 varieties of veggies.  Some of them are juicy tomatoes, moist potatoes, crunchy carrots, chewy cabbage, divine squash vines, nutritious napa, and rubbery bok choy.  Some of the rare find veggies such as squash vines make popular delicacies in some fancy restaurants in Los Angeles area.

Squash vine from Yao Cheng Farm turns into popular dish in fancy restaurants

Mr. Cheng also solved my puzzle.  For all these years, some people (including me) are wondering if organic foods are truly pesticide-free, how come the food from organic farms are so delicious and good looking?  My pesticide-free cabbage was eaten by bugs right down to the root!  Mr. Cheng told me that organic farms have the permit to use different types of natural pesticides that do not harm people or the environment.  The materials such as pepper just make the vegetable taste bad to the bugs. 

I am happy for my mom and dad that they had made a new friend.  I am also happy for myself that today, I finally got the answer to a question stuck to me for two years since my cabbage was devoured by bugs.  Till the next time, bye-bye! 

Birthday Survey (by William)

Two years ago, on my 8^th birthday, my Godmother gave me a birthday survey questionnaire.  On every birthday I would fill out the blanks in the survey paper.  

I have been doing it happily ever since, and I am seeing lots of changes occurring.  For example, my favorite TV show changed from Curious George to Wild Kratts to Fresh off the Boat in the past three years.  My future plans changed from author to doctor to biologist.  

However, some of my favorites have not changed.  My favorite drink, orange juice did not change, nor swimming as my favorite sport.  Another example is Christmas as my favorite holiday.

My plan is to do it till I am 18 years old.  Then I will look over and see how much I have grown over the years.  Mom said she will help by passing it down to my kids when I grow up.

P.S.  Mom enjoys making fun of me.  She said I will marry a Martian and have 100 Martian-Earthling babies.  She will have to find the one who has the most interest in history, then she can pass the survey down to him/her.